Cannabis Industry Says It Needs More Approved Growers To Meet Canadian Demand

More fully-licensed cannabis growers and cultivation space are needed to meet a voracious demand for legal marijuana, a spokesman for the industry said last week.

That means more licences for both producers and their grow areas need to be issued by Health Canada, said Allan Rewak, executive director of the Cannabis Council of Canada.

“Absolutely, we need more licensed producers, we need Health Canada to approve more production sites,” said Rewak, adding his group represents 85 per cent of the legal cultivation space in Canada.

“We’re talking to them every day.”

Private cannabis retailers in Alberta and across the country say the supply of product is often proving inadequate, with some insisting that shortage is preventing them from opening their stores a few weeks after the drug became recreationally legal on Oct. 17.

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, the provincial commission that distributes to private shops and sells pot online, echoes those sentiments.

On Friday, 72 of its 90 varieties of marijuana were listed as out of stock, while the number of total varieties had fallen by 100 from the day before.